If you're looking for a cheap way to travel, and a cultural experience that will bring you past wandering in a country, hoping something significant in your life happens, here's an organization that looks like a promising possibility.

I read about it in a travel blurb and then headed to the Web site to check it out. Bridges for Education is a short term program where participants teach conversational English in exchange for cheap room and board and a week of cultural tours at the end of the teaching obligation.

The premise of the organization is that, by using teaching English as a tool, tolerance and understanding between cultures is fostered. Originally set up to answer the need for English language acquisition programs in Eastern Europe, the reach has expanded to Zhangzhou, China.

Here's a way to win a trip to Europe for two. Here's one catch. You have to either travel to Europe and shoot a video of the experience--or have been there before and have a video on hand, or there's no hope for you. The European Travel Commission's, "You and Europe" contest is one where travelers submit video footage of their European trip to www.visiteurope.com. There it can be viewed by the public and the judges.

If you're heading to Europe this summer, you have time. The deadline isn't until September 30. After that the judges will decide who wins. According to the Web site, videos can be "funny, poignant, romantic, serious, or silly--capture an aspect of the culture--whatever captures your imagination."

Videos need to be no longer than three minutes. As a bit of advice, based on "an aspect of the culture," I wouldn't make this a Borat-style film where your interactions are the focal point. The Web site is pushing Europe to travelers. As darling and stunning as you are, you're not it.

To give you tips and ideas, there is a how-to video on making a travel video from CompulsiveTraveler that is geared towards the contest. You can also view what others have submitted for a shot of inspiration.

Hint: These are good. Make yours better.

Tax rebates are on the way, with the first deposits inbound as early as Friday (check the schedule here) and Americans are scrambling to figure out how to blow their wad.

I happened to have two weddings to attend over the month of May, so my check will probably be going to wedding presents for the two lucky couples. O Kosta Boda, your uselessness has no end.

Over at CNN.com though, they want you to spend your money on a little R&R. Editors of Southern Living, Coastal Living, Sunset and Cottage Living have cobbled together a list of five "great tax-rebate getaways" where you can spend a portion of your hard-earned rebate on investing back into the economy.

Among their list of top destinations are

• Charleston, South Carolina
• Grand Canyon National Park
• Destin, Florida
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• San Francisco, California

You can read all about each destination including where to stay and eat at CNN's website. Just make sure you don't do anything CRAZY like pay off bills, credit cards or even (gasp) invest your rebate.

Memorial Day is right around the corner people and if you haven't got plans yet you're late to the party. I personally took advantage of some tickets from New York City to Mexico City, where I'll be hanging out with my girlfriend in Teotihuacan and eating tacos until I turn green.

I booked in early March; holiday fares usually dry up well before the date, leaving latecomers high and dry by a few weeks out.

Lucky for you though, there's a mini fare war for flights to Anchorage this May, which happens to include Memorial Day in the available dates. That means you east coasters still have a chance to book that last minute getaway to the nation's largest state.

Departures are from Philadelphia, centrally located among DC, New York City and Baltimore for a paltry 385$. It also works in the other direction, so if any of you moose want to visit the City for a weekend we'll have you. Book soon though, this fare has been live for a few days now so it won't last much longer, especially during a holiday weekend.

You can do a flex search on Kayak to easily find dates around Memorial day or other times in May.

Stop and visit Blogger Catherine Bodry while you're up there, I hear she leads ice climbing expeditions up the north face of Mt. McKinley.

Perhaps in the wake of Delta Airlines offering double Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) to their passengers a couple of weeks back, American Airlines just launched their own double miles promotion.

Passengers who register for the promotion have between April 16th and June 15th to qualify for their extra miles, which don't count for award travel, but do count for elite status. That means you only have to fly 12.5k, 25k and 50k miles to earn AAdvantage Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum status -- a fantastic deal.

What's the big deal with miles if you can't use them for awards? There are myriad benefits to achieving elite status on any airline, from first class upgrades to priority check in and boarding to special customer service lines. If you invest any time in the skies, elite status is definitely worth the investment.

Check out American Airline's guides to elite benefits here for further details on their programs.

To register for the promotion, go to American Airline's promo page and use code AADER.

And my condolences to those of you elite AA members out there who already have status and who's ranks are soon to be diluted with thousands of causal travelers. Now you know what life is like in the Delta/Northwest world.

As a person with oodles of frequent-flier miles, you can bet when I read about Northwest's merger with Delta our miles flashed before my eyes and headed down a drain until I mentally fished them out. Should we book that flight to Copenhagen, Denmark even though we're holding out for Asia next summer?

When I headed to my in-box, there was an e-mail from Northwest Airlines telling me not to worry about my World Perks miles and Elite status. They are safe and will not be affected by the merger. The message also pointed out that this merger will give me more options to use those miles because of the increase of the routes and the global reach. What I want is for them to fly to Vietnam.

I'm glad that Northwest sent me a warning along with the time frame of when changes could occur. It does make me feel part of Northwest's radar--like possibly they care. Letting customers know what is going on is key in today's uncertain world. It instills confidence and keeps customers coming back.

A few year's ago, when we were flying Northwest to Taiwan and had to be rerouted to Honolulu due to engine failure, we were told what was going on during each step. It was clear that Northwest was prepared to make sure that we were comfortable and happy. The engine trouble resulted in a two-night stay at the Sheraton Waikiki with vouchers for breakfast and dinner--not too shabby. United Airlines lost my business because when the same thing happened on a flight from L.A. to Singapore, we were treated terribly. I have yet to forgive them.

Despite the e-mail, I'm not quite comfortable because our mile accumulation is a hefty amount that I'd hate to lose. I'm the type that hoards for a better day. That day might be now. I've started looking into that Denmark trip just in case. As Grant also wrote, better play it safe to not be sorry later.

Although, it's true that living the Girl Scout motto "Be Prepared" can pay off, flying through life by the seat of ones pants also has merit. Take yesterday, for example. Yesterday, I got the urge to see Avenue Q. The touring company is in town for a few days, and because I've been busy, getting tickets became shuffled to the background of my life. Then, about 3 p.m., I had to go. I must go, even if no one was going with me. I'd be nuts not to. At 4:45 p.m. I dashed into the CAPA ticket office to buy my ticket.

The guy behind the counter said, "Ya' know. At 6:00, you can get a $25 ticket. There will be 20 rush tickets for sale.

At 5:30, after a trip to the library to pay off a fine for overdue books, there I was, first in line, at the Palace Theatre box office, By 6:10, I had two tickets. At that price, my husband agreed to go with me when I called to tell him about our good fortune. By 7:50 we were settled into our third- row orchestra seats on the right-hand side, much better and cheaper than the ones we would have had if I had planned ahead.

There are two morals of this story:

1. If you get the urge to go to a performance, even if it's last minute, don't assume it's too late--you might hit pay dirt.
2. If you want to plan ahead, find out if there are rush tickets and how to get them.

Here is a link to tips on getting rush tickets for Broadway shows in New York City, and here's a link to Talkin' Broadway's On the Boards that has ticket information including rush ticket policies and standing room only details. Standing room only is another last minute, cheaper ticket option. Here's Avenue Q's touring schedule. I highly recommend it, but it's bawdy. Good natured, clever and terrific, but bawdy.

If you happen to be one of those unfortunate people who come up with a dud on what seems to be a new roulette style airline game called "Will My Flight be Canceled?" or even worse, "Will my Airline Shut Down Overnight?," you can head to certain Kimpton Hotels for a gift designed especially for you--the stranded traveler.

As a way to coax stranded travelers to a Kimpton Hotel, the "Stranded in Style" promotion allows guests with a canceled flight to choose from the following options they show a canceled boarding pass or ticket:

Bath salts or eye mask

Bottle of wine or in-room movie

KN Karen Neuburger zebra chenille lounge socks

Cocktail or appetizer at adjacent restaurant

Participating hotels include: 70 park avenue and The Muse in New York, Hotel Argonaut in San Francisco and Hotel Monaco in Denver.

This may not be enough to turn lemons into lemonade, but it's an interesting idea. I wonder what budget motels could come up with? Maybe you could get real Half-and-Half instead of non-dairy creamer with that complimentary cup of coffee.

The 10th most popular book in the United States is Catcher in the Rye. Way to go Holden! Although Holden roamed the streets of New York City at Christmas time in the early 1950s, you can take in what he did even in warmer weather. Holden Caufield's version of NYC is certainly cheaper than the Sex in the City tour that Iva wrote about. That one costs $24,000.

Here's my suggestion for a Holden Caufield inspired itinerary with costs included. I'm providing the adult rates. The itinerary is based on the places Holden went. Each are mentioned in the novel. I've thrown in the cost of a day MetroCard along with the subway and bus stops to make your gadabout easier. If you start early in the morning and don't dawdle, you should be able to hit all stops--although this is if you only see highlights at the two museums. Each of them could take several hours. Take a copy of the novel with you so you can see what Holden saw and compare notes. There will be an essay afterwards.

Smokers in New York already face some of the highest prices for cigarettes in the country. But last Wednesday, the New York legislature approved a $1.25 tax hike on cigarettes, meaning that taxes alone on a pack in New York are a whopping $4.25, not including a roughly 8% sales tax. Add it all up and a pack of smokes in New York is likely to cost around $9.00. Ouch!

This all got me thinking: Where in the world are cigarettes the cheapest? And more importantly, how can I smuggle a couple hundred thousand packs into New York and sell them for a handsome profit? I think I've more or less discovered the answer to the first question, but I'm still working on the second.

A table produced by the World Health Organization (maybe a couple years old) shows that one pack of Marlboros or an "equivalent international brand" costs about $1.70 in Argentina. As much as I'd love to spend some time in Buenos Aires, I have a feeling I can track down a cheaper pack.

In China, an international brand costs about $1.57, which is sneaking down into my price range. The same thing in Ghana will run about a buck-forty. Cigs in Egypt look to be about $1.17, and those in Georgia are a dollar even. But we can do better than that.

The cheapest "international brand" smokes are to be found in Indonesia, where even fetuses are known to light up every now and then. A pack in the steamy Southeast Asian nation will run you a cool $.62. I probably have enough in my couch cushions for at least a couple.

But enough of this hoity-toity "name brand" crap. Let's look at some prices for the hard stuff-- the kind of violent cigarettes that leave open sores in the mouths and throats of all those who dare to inhale.